Sunday, 29 June 2014

Flying Eastar Jet from Osaka Kansai to Seoul and a tour around Osaka Itami Airport

Welcome to my Trip Report on Eastar Jet and A tour around Oaska Itami Airport!

Osaka Itami Airport
I went to the airport to check it out and also do some planespotting, here are some of the photos.

Photos of Osaka Itami Airport

This is the terrace outside the cafe, don't plane spot over here, there is a better location for it.

Beautiful photo of United Airlines's DC-10!

Now, this is the correct place! The observation deck at Osaka Itami Airport!

Beautiful day for plane spotting!

The airport isn't big, only 2 airlines and their subsidiaries are operating at this airport. The Low Cost Carriers do not operate at this airport so airfare in and out of this airport isn't cheap. Getting to this airport is not difficult, take the monorail line to the airport.

Overall, I find the airport an aviation enthusiast-friendly place. Observation deck which is great for photos, some airports in other parts of the world could certainly learn. I haven't checked out the 3rd airport, perhaps the next time I head back there.

Eastar Jet's KIX-ICN trip report

Introduction
There were a few carriers operating from Osaka to Seoul. I did a quick check and one airline that caught my eye was Eastar Jet! I knew I have to give this airline a try. I had seen this airline in Taipei Songshan Airport before and back then I had not much information about the airline back then, so it was a good chance for me to discover this airline. It was an easy decision really. Peach was also another option to fly there, but since I had already flown on it, flying on a new carrier would be a better option for me. Once again, you need to register with the airline in order to take advantage of the low fare. For the effort, you pay only a sum of S$120 one way which includes the 15KG luggage and a free drink. If you are lazy to sign up, you will pay about $350, so its up to you really.For my domestic flight with this carrier, please click here.Website
Website was easy to use. There is an English version which will take you to where you want to go. The funny thing about making this booking is there was no seat selection option but for my domestic flight with this same carrier, there was. I wonder why! Besides that, there is no online check-in, not a big deal for me, but on the day itself, I just have to go there early. Registration is needed to take advantage of the discounted fare and apart from that, website runs smoothly with no problem.On the day of departure
I left the guest house at around 0700 hours, took the JR line to airport. Taking the train system in Osaka is similar to Tokyo, its complicated! You have to watch out for the signs and make sure you get on the right platform. Fortunately for me, I had no difficulty and waited for the right train to arrive. Leaving Osaka with a heavy heart, wished the time didn't go so quickly, but at the same time I was looking forward to visiting Seoul, staying longer this time. Once, I was on the train, it was crowded all the way to the airport, the train ride took about 50 minutes but it was a smooth one. Paid around 1050 yen for the ride!Once I reached the airport, I was still early. I went to snap some photos of the interior before heading to the check-in counters by then there was a queue.Do take note, only Peach Aviation uses terminal 2 (At this point of time) while the rest of the airlines operate from Terminal 1.Check this airlines information to make sure you are heading the right way.

You won't need to understand the Japanese words to check your where the check-in counters for your flight.

Pretty crowded at this time.

Took around 15 minutes before my boarding pass was issued. No questions asked about my return flight, it went pretty well and quick. The staff wanted to give me an emergency row, but I declined and instead asked for a window seat near the rear.

Once I got my boarding pass done, it was time to head towards the air side.

Finnair's promotion to Helsinki?

Walking through the air-side of Osaka Kansai Terminal 1.

Got to take the sky train to my gate.

Everything is displayed clearly, no problem for everyone.

You are still able to get back to the main terminal if you still have time.

I had some time left so I went to photograph some nice stuff.

Dedicate this to all Liverpool fans!

Flew on this beauty from CGK to DPS earlier this year on my first Indonesian joyride trip!

Singapore Airlines' Airbus A330-300 being prepared for departure.

Vietnam Airlines Airbus A321

Once I was done, I went to my gate to wait for the aircraft to arrive.

Thanks to flightradar, I knew which aircraft was coming in and it was HL8269, my very first ride on a Korean aircraft.

Here it is, livery is not the prettiest but it still looks smart and decent. This aircraft is the youngest in its fleet (at this time), but the cabin didn't have the Boeing Sky Interior.

My 59th airline

Date: 19th May 2014

Airline: Eastar Jet

Flight: ZE612

Seat: 28A

Route: KIX-ICN

Gate: 32

Load: 100%

Aircraft: Boeing 737-800

Registration: HL8269

Route: KIX-ICN

Engines: 2 X CFM56-7B26

Delivered: 4th July 2012

Engines: 2 X CFM 56-7B26

Ex-Malev and aircraft is leased from ILFC

Line number: 1689

Departure runway: 24L

Departure time: 1110

Took off: 1120

Flight duration: 1 hr 40 mins

Arrival: 1240

Boarding was done by rear row first then followed by the front. Looking at the crowd, it looked like a full flight and it was to be, not a single empty seat.

The flight took off on time and here is the video of it! (Sorry for the quality, due to the dirty window)

Here are some photos of the cabin!

The old Boeing's cabin style.

Sorry for the blurred photo! The audio system wasn't in used.

Very tight legoom space, next time I will pick the emergency row if I fly on international routes with this airline. That would be my recommendation! Do take note, seat selection for international flights can only be done at the check-in counter and no extra cost for emergency seats. So go there early and grab it fast!

Since the flight was full and sitting beside me was a mother and her daughter, I decided not to disturb so I sat at where I was throughout the flight. It wasn't too uncomfortable even though the seat pitch was tight. For a 2 hours flight, it was bearable and luckily for me I had the window seat as requested at the check-in counter.

What's inside the seat pocket?

Eastar Jet's flight routes

A complimentary drink was served!

The service on board was good. Cabin crew came about making sure we were all comfortable. Smiles on their faces and were very professional through out. I wanted to buy a polo t-shirt but unfortunately it wasn't available. Decided to skip on the meal as I wasn't hungry at that time.

The flight was slightly turbulence, seat belt signs came on a few times but at least the crew did bother switching off the selt belt sign after the turbulence was gone. Some airlines would just leave it on for the rest of the flight which could be quite annoying. The two ladies beside were quite nervous when the plane hit turbulence. Wanted to calm them down but they were pretty much reserved and therefore left them alone. They got over it somehow.

Window shot photos!

Let's take off!

A plane in sight, approaching KIX airport.

I wonder what airport is this!

Touched down in Seoul! The last time I was in Seoul was more than 15 years ago!

Great to see Lufthansa's Boeing 747-8I and Etihad's A340-600 F1 formula livery!

Parking beside this Business Air's Boeing 767-300ER, saw it before in Singapore.

The landing video!

My rating:

Website: 7/10

On ground crew (KIX): 8/10

Osaka Kansai Airport experience: 8/10

In-flight service: 7/10

Seat comfort: 5/10 (poor legroom space)

Cabin interior: 9/10

Cleanliness: 10/10

Punctuality: 10/10

Aircraft condition: 10/10

Overall rating: 74/90

Conclusion

The airline offers very low fare at the time I booked and I felt it was value for money. The flight experience I had was a positive one even though the seat and its pitch wasn't fantastic. However, the crew made it up with its great Korean hospitality and a complimentary drink was served. Would I recommend this airline? Yes, definitely I will. Its one of the better LCCs around, organised and certainly know what its doing. After flying with a number of LCCs in Asia. In terms of in-flight service, I find the Japanese and Korean in-flight service is better than elsewhere.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I found your site on a google search. Do you recall the check in luggage policies for Eastar and Peach? To my knowledge, Eastar allows 2 carryons (purse+laptopbookbag) plus an additional 15kg of checkin baggage.

I'm going to fly from Seoul to Osaka this August and I'm pretty much confused in picking which airline would be best to fly with. I'm looking for an airline that has got good price offer (cheap lol) and also got generous luggage quota (as I'll be bringing one huge suitcase with me). Can you please give me some recommendation? I'd be buying a one way ticket because I'm going to return to my country from Tokyo. Thanks!

All depends on your budget. Low Cost carriers of course offer the best deals and even the add ons are still significantly cheaper than the premium airlines such as Japan Airlines, ANA, Korean Air and Asiana. One way ticket would definitely cost more with these airlines. I would recommend Eastar Jet, Peach Aviation or Jeju Air for this route. You can't go wrong with these airline. I flew with all 3 and they all proved to be reliable airlines.